A computer which includes a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU) loads an initialization program such as a basic input output system (BIOS) from a storage device to the processing unit during startup of the computer. Similarly, a parallel computer which includes a plurality of processing units loads an initialization program such as a BIOS from a shared storage device to each processing unit during startup of the parallel computer. For example, a control circuit which controls loading of the initialization program is connected to each processing unit and the storage device in order to load the initialization program from the shared storage device to each processing unit, and each processing unit is connected to the storage device via the control circuit. The control unit connected to each processing unit and the storage device operates in mutual cooperation based on a read-out request output by one processing unit, reads out the initialization program from the storage device and transfers the initialization program to the plurality of processing units in parallel. In a case where an external port which receives the initialization program is connected to one processing unit, the one processing unit which receives the initialization program via the external port transfers the received initialization program to the other processing units. During startup of the computer, a portion of the initialization program is executed by the processing unit after being loaded to the cache memory which operates as a random access memory (RAM). The remaining initialization program is executed by the processing unit after being loaded to the system memory.
Examples of the related art include Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2000-305912, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-223496, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-16020.